Chronic

FDA Clears the Way for Generic Versions of Transdermal Patches to Treat Chronic Pain

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to Mylan Technologies, Inc., for the first generic version of Alza Corporation's Duragesic Patch (Fentanyl Transdermal System) used to treat patients suffering from severe chronic pain that cannot be managed with alternative analgesics. When applied to the skin, this patch technology delivers fentanyl, an opioid pain medication that is s...

B cells are required for development of epithelial cancer associated with chronic inflammation

Chronic inflammation is linked to the development of certain types of cancer, but mechanisms mediating inflammation during premalignancy are not well understood. A new research study published in the May issue of Cancer Cell identifies B lymphocytes as important regulators of premalignancy associated with chronic inflammation. The results suggest that drugs targeted against B lymphocytes or recru...

Chronic Sinus Infection Thought To Be Tissue Issue, Mayo Clinic Scientists Show It's Snot

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that the cause of chronic sinus infections lies in the nasal mucus -- the snot -- not in the nasal and sinus tissue targeted by standard treatment. The findings will be published in the August issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and "This strikingly teaches against...

FDA Approves New Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis B

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of Baraclude (entecavir) tablets and oral solution for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B in adults. Chronic hepatitis B is a serious disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that attacks the liver. The virus can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. According to the...

UQ scientists break new ground in fight against infection & chronic disease

University of Queensland (UQ) researchers are on track to develop new treatments for acute infections, chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer. The discovery, made by four resea...

Master genetic switch found for chronic pain

In experiments with mice, researchers have found that eliminating what appears to be a master genetic switch for the development of pain-sensing neurons knocks out the animals' response to "neuropathic pain." Such pain is abnormal pain that outlasts the injury and is associated with nerve and/or central nervous system changes. The animals rendered deficient in the gene, called Runx1, also showed...

Both alcoholism and chronic smoking can damage the brain's prefrontal cortex

University of Utah researchers will receive up to $10.3 million to help develop a new prosthetic arm that would work, feel and look like a real arm. The Utah work is a key part of a U.S. Department of Defense contract worth up to $55 million to develop the new device for soldiers and potentially others whose arms were amputated. "Imagine an artificial arm that moves naturally in response t...

Mice lacking key immune component still control chronic viral infections

Despite lack of a key component of the immune system, a line of genetically engineered mice can control chronic herpes virus infections, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. Scientists can't prove it yet, but they suspect the missing immune system component, a group of molecules known as the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class Ia, has a...

Mouse mimics chronic leukemia, will aid drug development

A study by cancer researchers here reveals that a new strain of mice offers the first real animal model for an incurable form of chronic leukemia and should greatly aid the development of new drugs for the disease. The mouse, called the TCL-1 transgenic mouse, develops a malignancy that closely mimics chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The lack of an animal model has greatly hampered th...

Study shows pine bark naturally decreases severe chronic venous insufficiency

Recent findings published in the journal of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hematosis show a significant symptom reduction of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) in patients after supplementing with Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree. Over 35 years of research on Pycnogenol® demonstrate the antioxidant's ability to improve blo...

New biologic treatment for tennis elbow may replace surgery for chronic sufferers

A person suffering from tennis elbow may not have to look any further than his or her own body for the most effective treatment, according to a study published in the November issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine. Specially-prepared platelets taken from the patient which are then re-injected into the tendon of the affected elbow provides more relief than more commonly-used ther...

Chronic jet-lag conditions hasten death in aged mice

Researchers have found that aged mice undergoing weekly light-cycle shifts--similar to those that humans experience with jet lag or rotating shift work--experienced significantly higher death rates than did old mice kept on a normal daylight schedule over the same eight-week period. The findings may not come as a great surprise to exhausted globe-trotting business travelers, but the research none...

Chronic pain up almost 40 percent among US workers in past decade

Persistent, chronic pain has risen dramatically among full-time U.S. workers in the past 10 years, but workers today opt to go to their jobs rather than call in sick, leading to a growing trend of presenteeism ?a negative impact on work despite being physically present at the job. These data, released today, are from a 2006 national survey conducted by Harris Interactive® on "Pain in the Workplac...

Chronic fatigue syndrome impairs a person's slow wave activity during sleep

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been associated with altered amounts of slow wave sleep, which could reflect reduced electroencephalograph (EEG) activity and impaired sleep regulation. A study published in the May 1st issue of the journal SLEEP finds that CFS is also associated with a blunted slow wave activity (SWA) response to sleep challenge, suggesting an impairment of the basic sleep dri...

Old memory traces in brain may trigger chronic pain

A Northwestern University researcher has found a key source of chronic pain...